Lisa Buehler: funeral home should have stayed open

Lisa Buehler and her attorney say she and her husband should have been able to keep operating their funeral home so victims of their fraud could have received their services or a refund.

“Common sense would have been to keep the funeral home open,” Lisa Buehler said Friday following a court hearing before she walked into a courthouse elevator.

But authorities counter that Lisa, 49, and her 64-year-old husband, Mark, could never have been trusted to effectively operate the now-shuttered Buehler Funeral Home in Roseville.

“The Buehlers were a clear and present danger to the public,” said Tim Teague, audit manager for the Michigan Bureau of Commercial Services. “Our experience in dealing with these types of cases is that the people will continue to do it (stealing) until they are stopped in some way. We can’t watch them 24/7.”

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The comments came a Mount Clemens courtroom hearing in which the amount of money owed was lowered to $260,000, nearly $100,000 less than previously determined due to a further review of records. The number of victims dropped to about 100. About $6,400 has been paid in restitution, most of it monies from ebay.com sales of Buehler possessions. The Buehlers have paid a small amount, $180 in three payments since Aug. 27, court records say. Lisa Buehler has had a part-time job. Mark Buehler is on Social Security Disability and said “it’s difficult (to get a job) with 37 felonies.”

The Buehlers pleaded guilty to 37 counts of failing to place money for pre-paid funerals into a trust accounts, and in August were sentenced to five years probation.

Lisa Buehler’s attorney, Dan Garon, said after the circuit court hearing that he believes the state should have allowed the funeral home to continue operating so customers could receive services or their money back.

“What they should have done was have somebody come in from the state and take over the finances, and keep it open,” Garon said. “Not one family was ever turned away from Buehler Funeral Home for a pre-paid funeral.”

But Teague said that like a Ponzi scheme, the Buehlers’ operation eventually “was going to collapse.” He said the Buehlers were using that money to pay bills for the funeral home and personal expenses.

The couple in January 2011 received $5,000 from one victim, and when the were arrested February, they had just leased a new Lexus, Teague said. They also owned a Jaguar.

“They were hiding contracts in their attic,” he said, referring to what police found in a search of their Eastpointe home. Cremated remains were later found in the basement.

The Buehlers lied to state officials, claiming they had not been accepting pre-paid funeral funds since 2007, he said.

Teague said the Buehlers should feel fortunate to not be in prison or jail because several other statewide cases involving a similar amount of money resulted in incarceration for the offenders.

“I’m actually shocked” they are not behind bars, he said.

The Buehlers could have been charged with the more serious offense, racketeering, or operating a criminal enterprise, of which others funeral home operators have been charged, he noted.

Assistant Macomb prosecutor Sian Hengeveld said the fraud charge was “the most effective way to get restitution for the victims.”

She reminded that Judge John Foster of Macomb County Circuit Court has threatened jail or prison for the couple if they do not make a sincere effort to pay restitution. “They is still potential they could get jail time if they don’t hold up their end” and make payments.

The old Buehler building on Gratiot Avenue near Frahzo Road is for sale. Officials are uncertain of whether a sale would generate any money for victims since the property’s mortgage was higher than the property value, and other entities may have greater claim to funds.

About the Author

My beat is the courts of Macomb County and general assignment.
Read more of Jameson Cook's court coverage on his blog http://courthousedish.blogspot.com/ Reach the author at jamie.cook@macombdaily.com
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